In Her Dreams
by littlemissjennifer
Summary: The story of an average teenage girl, and how her life changes. The most romantic story you will ever read.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

She looked at herself in the mirror; hands clutching the sides of the basin. The yellow light flickered in the reflection. She studied herself, her appearance. Matted knots in lanky hair, smudged lipstick, running mascara, torn sleeves and a ripped hem on her favourite dress, and where had her left shoe gone? She sighed.

What was happening?

Dirt and dried blood had caked underneath her once perfectly manicured fingernails. She picked up the bar of soap and dug her nails into the block, scrubbing her knuckles, all the way up to her elbows. She let the water run. Nothing could wash it away though, what they'd done to her, the memories. She screamed until she choked, sobs tearing from her chest, ripping her heart to shreds. She wished he would come to her, rescue her from this nightmare.

Tomorrow night, he would.

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**Reviews would be much appreciated :)**


	2. Chapter 1: Another Day

**Chapter One: Another Day**

_She rode the black stallion through the forest, following the single, winding, dirt path. Her dark, chocolate hair and a white dress flowed behind her in the wind. The moon shone high through the trees, a glowing orb in the inky sky, but disappeared intermittently in the thick canopies. Then, the horse stopped. She urged it forward but it would not budge, so she dismounted and carried on by foot. As she wandered further along the path, the trees grew denser and the light faded as a fog set in. Through bushes with thorns she pushed her way forward, until finally she reached it – the cliff. There she sat, for what seemed like hours, watching the stars in the sky, the moon make its way from the left to the right, until she caught a glimpse of something. She stood, walking as close to the edge as she dared, and peered across the small ravine to the other side. A boy was there, almost mirroring her actions, and at once she felt self-conscious, like she was on display for this boy. After a while he smiled and waved. The girl, afraid, tripped backwards into the bushes, shrouding herself in the darkness while the boy desperately looked for her, a forlorn expression on his face…_

"Clara," a hushed whisper, "Clara, wake up."

"Mmph," she replied.

Her mother left, satisfied that the girl was awake. Clara rolled over and cracked one eyelid to check the time. "Five more minutes…" she told herself, and promptly fell back to her dream.

_"I thought you'd gone for good. Please, what is your name?" the boy asked, still looking for her in the gloom.  
"Clara." She called tentatively.  
"Come out into the moonlight, Clara. I won't hurt you. I __can't__ hurt you; I'm all the way over here." He replied.  
Clara emerged slowly from the bushes. The moonlight radiated off her skin and made her look as if she had an aura of silver. "What's your name?" she asked him, her eyes flicking up to meet his.  
"Nathaniel." He said, "Do you come here often?"  
"This is my first time. It's really quite breathtaking though, and I love how clear the sky is here." She replied.  
"Mine too, but I do agree." He paused, "I saw you stargazing earlier, would you like some company?"  
Clara hesitated. She did not know this boy, but he seemed to be good natured and friendly. "Sure," she said, "I wouldn't mind that at all."_

_The pair sat in silence for a while. Clara looked up at the sky, at the stars, and she breathed out contentedly…_

"Clara! I thought you were awake! You're going to be late!" her mother yelled and pulled back her blankets. Clara's eyes shocked open and she jumped out of bed too fast, the world spinning and turning black for a few moments as she stumbled down the hallway to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, ran her fingers through her hair, pulled on a pair of skinny leg jeans and a baggy jumper and grabbed her belongings before racing out the door to the bus stop at the end of the street. As she waited for the bus, her mother called her and Clara, already knowing the conversation well, picked up the phone with a sigh, "Hello?"

"Clara! How many times do I have to tell you? You're in university now; you can't keep expecting me to wake you up! What happens if you miss your lecture? Then you'll fail your unit and you're going to have to stay there for a whole extra year! And you didn't even eat breakfast, now that's not a good start to the day already! How do you expect to learn anything if you haven't eaten properly? You better eat lunch today. You can't just do what you always do and just eat dinner. It's not healthy Clara. Are you listening to me? Your aunt sent me an email the other day and it was explaining how bad not eating is for your health. It can cause all sorts of problems." Her mother yelled through the phone line.

"Yes mum." Clara responded, "I have to go, the bus is here. Bye!"

"Remember you're coming back to Tristan's school tonight. He finishes late."

"Okay mum –"

"And make sure you pick up some dinner for us from that uni café. They have nice food there."

"Yes mum, I really do have to go!"

"Okay okay, bye!" She hung up.

Clara took a bus, then two trains and a second bus to get to university. She got off and walked to her first class where she was greeted with a friendly wave and a grin from her good friends Jack and Annabel.

"How was your weekend?" Clara asked them as she took out her laptop and opened up today's lecture.

"So you know that guy that I like?" Annabel began, "Turns out he likes me too."

"Oh that's great Annie!" Clara replied, beaming

"Well, see there's a problem. He doesn't want to date right now. We had this whole big talk about it and he just wants to see where his life is going right now without being in a committed relationship." She explained, her voice flattening at every word.

"Guys are stupid." Jack said matter-of-factly.

"You are a guy." I stated.

"Yeah, so?" he countered, "I'm stupid too."

"No you're not!" Clara retorted, heat rising to her cheeks.

"I really am, Clara, you just don't see it." He said, and turned back to the board.

For the past few months, ever since she knew him, Jack had been her confidant; the one person she could trust with her secrets and make her laugh when she was sad. In that short time, she had developed feelings for him, although she tried to mask it and deny it, even to herself. Jack knew how Clara felt, despite her efforts, and if he was honest with himself, he supposed he liked her too. Although, with his humour and his good looks, Jack had the choice of any girl he wanted, and his choice at present was no one.

The lecture was dreary and Clara rested her head on Jack's shoulder, drifting in and out of sleep. This happened every Monday and Jack was used to it; he didn't want to admit it, but it was even comforting to him. When the lecture was finally over, Jack waited a minute before waking her, enjoying her presence too much. Clara rubbed her eyes tiredly and gathered her belongings before muttering "sorry, I can't believe I fell asleep on you" to Jack before they both stood up and left the lecture theatre.

The pair walked to buy lunch, Clara remembering to get some for dinner as well, and sat at a table in the café. It was loud in there, and the conversation they had was on strange topics, like usual. A few other friends joined them before the group left for another string of classes.

These classes were much the same, except Clara vowed to stay awake this time, as she always does, and she grabbed out a pen and paper to make notes, "I have to do well in this subject. I can't fail!" she proclaimed.

After their day, Clara bid her group of friends goodbye and hopped on a bus with Jack. They fell into an easy conversation, but all the while she felt a subtle flirty vibe. She didn't mind. They parted ways when they reached the train station, Jack catching the train in the opposite direction with nothing more than a "see you tomorrow" and a wave. Clara stuffed her hands in her pocket, feeling happy for seeing her good friend, but regretting not hugging him goodbye.

Her trip home was as uneventful as the trip there. She spent her time listening to a myriad of songs on her iPod and eventually called her best friend, Anita, for their weekly catch up. Anita had been asked out in the few hours the girls hadn't contacted each other, and she was now dating a boy that Clara had introduced her to, Luke. Clara was pleased for her friend and the giggling and small squeals probably eluded the other train passengers to her excitement.

Once Clara was home, the onslaught of yelling in her household was unleashed. It started as soon as she and her brother had hopped in the car. Tristan was being as annoying as ever and the two of them began verbally abusing each other as their mother screamed over the top of them to "shut the fuck up!"

Clara's night was also uneventful, completing an assignment and watching a TV series with her family before showering and falling into a deep sleep.

Then she dreamt.

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